Solfrid Molland // Musikken er Mitt Fedreland // CD

"Musikken er mitt fedreland" [Music is my fatherland]

Some of the street musicians in Oslo play at the philharmonic level. One of these is the violinist Valentin Vasile. He has Romani roots and has been trained in Romania. With his father Gheorghe Vasile-Buzoiano (accordion), he has played for years on the streets of European cities. Solfrid Molland has invited them together with other musicians and singers with Romani backgrounds to make a CD, which is now being released as "Musikken er mitt fedreland" [Music is my fatherland].

The new CD has been created and released in cooperation with the Norwegian Church City Mission. The backdrop is the growing presence of Romani people in Oslo and elsewhere in Norway in recent years. Solfrid has sought out the small Romani congregation in Markus church. Many of the people we see begging on the streets of downtown Oslo are regular attendees there, and are members of the "HjerteRom-koret" [the Warm-of-heart choir], which is also on the new CD.

The production is a tribute to the strength and spirituality of Romani or Gypsy music, and the core of the repertoire is traditional Gypsy songs, but some Norwegian references and comments also form the framework for the release. Aage Samuelsen's "Å Jesus du som fyller 

alt i alle" [Oh Jesus, you who fill us all] has been given an eminent Romani interpretation, and the lyricist Øystein Wingaard Wolf has written the lyrics that start and end the CD, including "Jeg vil elske en fremmed før jeg skal dø" [I will love a stranger before I die]. 

The project brought Solfrid to Romania together with the photographer Erlend Berge. The idea has been to document the background and family situation of the participants, and determine the importance of their work in Norway for the family in the village they come from. The album cover provides tells this story through photographs and interviews. A small legend reproduced in the inserted booklet tells how music came to be the fatherland of the Romani people. The Church City Mission efforts for the penniless travellers are also presented. The CD was recorded in Tøyenkirken, the Church City Mission centre in Oslo.

Solfrid Molland (song/piano/accordion)

Gheorghe Vasile-Buzoiano (song/accordion)

Valentine Vasile (violin)

Ion Cantaragiu Rasturnel (saxophone)

Gjermund Silseth / Lars Tormod Jenset (double bass)

HjerteRom-koret [The Warm-of-heart choir]

About some of the musicians:

Solfrid Molland is a pianist, singer and composer. She grew up with Russian folk music and Gypsy music, and this pervades her concerts and compositions. She has travelled Europe as a busker with her red accordion. While travelling, she learnt songs from the Romani people and composed music for various cathedrals. This music was released on CD by KKV in 2011 as "Katedral for Tapte Drømmer" [Cathedral for Lost Dreams]. Here she shone a musical and poetical light on the largest minority in Europe, the Romani people. This new CD is a continuation of this theme, but with focus on the street musicians in Oslo.

Gheorghe Vasile Buzoiano is a singer and accordion player from Romania. He is the son of the well-known singer and violinist Constantin Vasile, and has played since the tender age of 11. He is carrying on the traditions of his fore-fathers, presenting the Romani music with roots going back a millennium. Gheorghe has supported his four children and put them through higher education by working as a musician in restaurants and on the streets. He plays concerts in restaurants in Romania and Copenhagen (Denmark), and plays on the streets in Norway. 

Valentin Vasile is a violinist with classical training from the music conservatory in Bucharest in Romania. From the age of six he played Romanian Gypsy and folk music in concerts with his father, Gheorghe Vasile. Valentin was previously played with the symphony orchestra in Bucharest, while in recent years he has worked as a free-lance musician. He has worked as a restaurant musician and played concerts all over the world, including with the Solfrid Molland Trio. He works as a street musician in Oslo, with his regular spot outside Stortinget (the Parliament building).

Track list: 

1. Alene er Du Ingenting                                                                         4:09

2. Trec, Ţiganii, Trec/ Sigøynerne Drar Forbi                                        2:27

3. Muzica e Viaţa Mea/ Musikken er Mitt Liv                                        2:56

4. Un Cântec ţigânesc de Neutitat/ En Aldri Glemt Sigøynersang      2:45

5. Å Jesus Du Som Fyller Alt i Alle                                                         4:00

6. Am Câmin Mai Sus de Nori/ Mitt Hjem er Oppe Bak Skyene          3:09

7. Catedrala Stavropoleos                                                                      4:30

8. Sanie Cu Zurgâlâi/ Slede med Bjeller                                                2:18

9. Jeg er en Fremmed                                                                            2:56

10. Dulce e Iubirea Sfântâ/ Søt er Den Himmelske Kjærlighet            3:04

11. Mama                                                                                                  2:47

12. Jeg Vil Elske en Fremmed Før Jeg Skal Dø                                    4:10